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Friday, 9 January 2015

Out With My Camera: Gokarna!

I've been away from this blog for too long, or what seems like too long. I feel like I need to catch you up on everything that's happened since the last time I blogged, which was sometime around Christmas.

So, Christmas was pretty boring for me. I had my art class all day and nothing remotely Christmas-ey happened. It was hot and sunny in Bangalore, much to my distaste. Then again, it is like that most of the year and it's about time I come to terms with it.

Every year around Christmas, I get down because it never goes the way I want it to. I always dream of celebrating Christmas the way they do in the movies but since my family doesn't celebrate Christmas, I always end up disappointed.

A few days after Christmas, I had to go to Gokarna with my family (uncles and aunts and cousins and their kids included). I wouldn't like to travel with the whole family under normal circumstances (I refer to them as the Great Indian Circus but don't let my mother hear of it) as they are quite restrictive and I feel like letting loose completely when I'm on holiday. We never see eye-to-eye and that bothers me more than it should. This was a one-off as they wanted to do something special for my late grandfather's death anniversary at the temple at Gokarna. So we went. All of us. In a tiny bus. With my tiny, squealing nephew and niece running up and down the aisle. My tolerance had expired long before so I escaped from the Circus at Gokarna and went on my own little photography trip while everyone was at the temple.

I went off topic a bit but I did want to put in a bit of back story in there. I was only in Gokarna for two days (I joined the family three days into the trip. I tried ditching out completely but couldn't get away with it.) and this is all I got up to in the time. Mind you, no real fun came of it. Yes, I saw other tourists partying on the beach post sunset, buying and smoking cigarettes at a subsidy (and also other illegal substances that I dare not mention here), enjoying cheap alcohol, and hiking on the hills near the beach but I, to my great displeasure, could not partake in any of these activities. I vow that the next time I go there it will be with like minded people and I will holiday the way I dream of holidaying.

For those who don't know, Gokarna is a small coastal town on the western coast of Karnataka. It's frequented by tourists all year round. Around the time I went, there were mostly Russian tourists. International tourists love it there as they get away with doing things that are illegal in their country as the law is much less tighter in Gokarna.

Here's a look at what I got up to in Gokarna.

This is one of the first shots I took on the beach and also my favourite picture from the trip. I'm always taking pictures of the strays and I found this one so adorable. On a hot, balmy day, this guy quietly found a small patch of shade to nap in for a while. We had a pretty interesting conversation too. If you're ever in Gokarna, look him up!

At the beach, I mostly spent my time searching for knickknacks on the shore. Sometimes, some really fascinating bits wash up onto the shore, and as the beach was fairly deserted, I knew I would have a clear view of the treasures.

I found this scull fragment but couldn't bring it home with me. I don't know which animal it once was a part of but that didn't matter. As a long time appreciator or murder mysteries, I cannot resist analysing sculls while pretending to know everything about them.

The crab, on the other hand, I didn't want to touch. I've always been afraid of crabs and thankfully, this one wasn't alive. I'm pretty sure I would've run the 500+ kilometers to Bangalore if it were!

I also borrowed a bike from one of the fisherman's kids and rode around in circles. The boys were too shy to pose for pictures but they were so nice! The fisherman offered to let us help them clean the fish but I much preferred watched. The crows circling the boats were waiting for them to toss out the "bad shrimp" for them.

I gave instructions as my sister built a sandcastle a little too close to the water. It got washed off right after she got the first turret built. So she moved it a little further away and built a moat around it. I'm assuming that's how the royals got the idea way back when.

We spent the whole afternoon there and then drove around a bit. We missed the sunset over the beach but caught it over the backwaters, thanks to our prissy bus driver!

I was so fascinated by the colours of the sunset that I alternated between taking pictures on my phone and on my camera. Choosing which one ended up on Instagram was the toughest decision of the day!

The next day was the day of the ritual at the temple in Gokarna, so I took a trip around the small town, taking in the colours and culture.

Seeing something like this in Bangalore is quite rare, and never of this magnitude!

I browsed the shops for hours before taking to the roads again, barefoot and pennyless!

I love the roads in the coastal towns! They're so clean and flat. No potholes in sight. It's refreshing.

I loved peeping into all the tiny nooks and crannies of the town. Everything was so bright and colourful and dust-free, which is so different from the big city life.

The local post office at Gokarna. I was tempted to post a letter to myself from here.

More of the streets from Gokarna! Loved walking around and discovering places and bits of greenery.

Met this tribal woman outside the temple. She was selling flowers and when I snapped a picture of her, told me that I had to pay her fifty rupees for taking a picture without her permission!

In the evening, we went to Om Beach, the main attraction at Gokarna. We even went for a boat ride around sunset and finally got to see the sun set over the sea.

Saw the lighthouse in the distance and remembered the time I convinced my sister that all lighthouses were haunted. Don't know if they really are, but the spirits need a guide so it does make sense on some level.

We left for Bangalore later that evening and, after a pit stop at the farm, made it back into the city early on the 31st. This meant that I slept through the countdown to 2015 and woke up around noon on the 1st. Not as wild as I hoped it would be.

I'm missing travelling already and planning another trip soon. If you've read all the way through, I hope I've help put Gokarna on your wander-list.

What's your favourite thing about travelling?

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24 comments:

Your pictures are absolutely stunning! I've definitely added Gokarna on my wander-list, it's so beautiful! I love travelling, seeing places I've only ever dreamed of come to life before my eyes is so fulfilling!

What a collection of lovely photos! I feel your pain with family holidays! My family came to stay with my bf and I over the holidays and they drive me insane! Sounds like you still managed to enjoy a little bit of your time :)

Wow your photos look amazing, makes me want to visit there!!! I live over in the US so overseas is just beautiful to me! I would love to travel overseas and maybe even make a pit-stop in this gorgeous place! Traveling for me is the joy of getting to see something different. I live in a little small down where its basically woods so traveling away from that is always a joy :)